India: United Breweries signs contract to import 50 thousand tonnes of barley from Argentina in December

Bengaluru-based United Breweries Ltd has signed a contract to import around 50,000 tonnes of barley from Argentina at $200-$201 per tonne, cost and freight, a company source told Cogencis.

The imports are scheduled to reach the Adani Port in Gujarat in the first week of December, the official said.

Malt makers in the country had imported around 55,000-60,000 tonnes of barley in September, according to industry estimates.

With the supply crunch in the domestic market, and arrivals of the new crop scheduled to commence only in March, malt companies turned to importing the coarse grain to meet their requirements, said the owner of a Jaipur-based malt company.

Also, barley imports turned out cheaper than buying the coarse grain from the domestic market and the quality was better as well, traders said.

On October 17, prices of barley in Jaipur, the benchmark market, rose by 20 rupees to 1,870 rupees per 100 kg, as the domestic market is facing a supply crunch because stocks with farmers have almost dried up, said Munna Samodiya, owner of the Jaipur-based Bansal Trading.

According to the agriculture ministry's fourth advance estimate, India's barley output in 2018-19 is seen at 1.75 mln tonnes, compared with the final estimate of 1.78 mln tonnes for the previous year.

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